Mental and Emotional Wellness, Chapter 6, objectives: Define emotional and mental health Describe self-esteem and how it relates to improving your mental health Describe the importance of mental health Describe how mental health and communication relate to one another. Describe depression and how it is treated.

What is the definition of mental health or mental wellness? The capacity of an individual to form harmonious relationships with his or her social and physical environment, and to achieve a balanced satisfaction of his or her own drive.

What is emotional health/wellness? It is the ability to express all emotions appropriately. Those who have this ability are surely mentally healthy. Being emotionally stuck is often the best indicator of current lack of emotional health.

A big part of mental and emotional wellness is dependent on self-esteem. What did you learn from Folasade’s story? Verbal abuse and how that affects self-esteem. Healing emotional wounds through prayer, friendships, the art and education.

We discussed about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs… We discussed about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs….please tell me about it.. The first step to building self-esteem is increasing you awareness. Please answer these questions (pg 117) What kind of person am I ? In which ways am I helpful to others, am I always thinking about myself, or do I balance thinking about others with thinking about myself ? What do I do each day that is helping me reach my goal ?

Communication and Mental health Self acceptance is an important part of self-esteem and a strong sign of self-acceptance is “sticking up for yourself” or not being a “doormat”. Being assertive. Assertiveness has to do with protecting your boundaries.

Tips for being assertive: Eye contact Body posture Match emotions to facial expressions Voice tone, inflection, volume Fluency, no rambling or stammering Timing listening

What prevents us from having good mental and emotional health? Emotional wounds Blocks in our energy field Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems. What is Anxiety? Apprehension, sweating palms, feeling stressed (pg 126 more symptoms).

What is depression ? Mental illness that affects the mood, body and thoughts a person may lose sleep or sleep too much. What are some of the signs?(pg123) Loss of interest in activities, Loss of appetite, feeling hopeless

Why is assertiveness important? If you do not know how to be assertive you may experience depression (from anger turned inward), resentment, frustration, temper/violence, anxiety, and poor relationships of all kinds. Addictions help to deal with all the above, but in an unhealthy way and we will discuss more next week.